Non-Invasive Transcutaneous Afferent Patterned Stimulation Therapy Offers Action Tremor Relief in Parkinson's Disease

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Neurosurgery

Background:

• Parkinson's disease (PD) often causes action tremors, impacting daily life.
• Transcutaneous afferent patterned stimulation (TAPS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique targeting tremor-generating brain regions.
• Previous studies primarily focused on TAPS for essential tremor (ET); its efficacy in PD was less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of TAPS in alleviating action tremors in patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
• To assess TAPS's impact on objective tremor measurements and patient-reported functional outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, open-label study involved 40 PD patients with action tremors.
• Participants underwent four weeks of at-home TAPS, with telemedicine check-ins.
• Tremor power, MDS-UPDRS III, and BF-ADL scores were primary and secondary outcome measures.

Main Results:

• TAPS demonstrated a 64% median reduction in tremor power (p < 0.001), with 79% achieving ≥50% reduction.
• Significant improvements were observed in MDS-UPDRS III tremor ratings and BF-ADL scores.
• High percentages of patients (75-83%) and clinicians (78-83%) reported meaningful improvement.

Conclusions:

• TAPS provides clinically significant relief for action tremors in Parkinson's disease patients.
• The therapy is well-tolerated, with minor adverse events like skin irritation.
• TAPS represents a viable, non-invasive therapeutic option for managing PD-related tremors.